Browse Saving for College Articles

I had a CollegeSure CD for my son who started college last fall. After the CD matured in August, I cashed it out and put the money in a savings account thinking I had to do that. He didn't have enough college expenses for the first semester to equal the gross distribution, so now I think we're in a terrible tax ...

In a Fastweb survey of high school and college students about preferred holiday gifts, more than half of the respondents said that they were hoping for money for college. But asking for money is awkward. It feels like begging. Most people are uncomfortable asking for money, even for a good purpose. Asking for gifts of money is taboo in the United ...

This article lists a dozen tips for asking for college savings cash as an alternative to traditional material gifts. It is a summary of the longer article, How To Ask Friends and Family for Money for a Child's College Savings Plan. 1. The only way to get a cash gift to a child's college savings plan is to ask. If you ...

Does it make sense to move our $40,000 529 college savings plan into a Roth IRA for our children who are both in college to shield the money from our asset consideration? We have a gross income of about $100,000 and no debt. They have some merit scholarships, but we have not qualified for need on the FAFSA. &mdash; Carolyn W. ...

My daughter turned 18 recently, and received a $25,000 mutual fund statement with her name on it. Her aunt had put $10,000 away in 1995 in a gift trust account for a minor. This was a mutual fund account in which the interest was reinvested each year and therefore no IRS interest statements were generated. We were unaware that her aunt ...

Under current IRS rules, a payment made directly to an educational institution to pay for the tuition of a student does not count as a gift to the student for gift tax purposes. For example, a grandparent can avoid gift taxes by writing a check to the college for their grandchild's tuition instead of giving the money to the student or ...

At this point, it’s old news that student loan rates have doubled. It’s also nothing new to hear that student debt is higher than ever, surpassing $1 trillion. Student loan debt inflicts one out of five Americans over the age of 20; two out of three college seniors (2011). The average amount is nearly $27,000 – not a small amount by ...

Sallie Mae, the nation’s number one financial services company specializing in education, in conjunction with Ipsos, has released a new national study, "How America Pays for College 2013." The study’s findings were based on survey results from around 800 undergraduate students, between the ages of 18 and 24 years old and the parents of undergraduate students. According to the study, families ...

Remember when student loan rates doubled in July after a lack of congressional action to stop it? That’s been reversed, after President Obama signed a law that restores lower interest rates for students. Republicans and democrats were finally able to come up with, what the President called a sensible, reasonable approach. The compromise came about after a series of summer negotiations. ...

When you’re a student trying to pay for school, one of the greatest challenges can be managing your finances in the best way possible. With so many options out there, it’s difficult to decipher right from wrong and what will be best for you in the future. Following these guidelines will help you understand how to determine what’s best for you, ...

We have an UTMA mutual fund for our son who is a senior in high school (17 years old). It is approximately $19,000 and was intended to help pay for college costs. When we opened it we weren't aware of the impact it could have on financial aid. I realize it's too late to fix anything for his freshman year next ...

My daughter is going to college next year. We have to file the FAFSA in January. We have money in our savings account that we saved for emergency reasons and some for my daughter's college. Will this affect her chance in getting grants or loans? What should we do? &mdash; G.N. Money in a savings account counts as an asset on ...

Oh, tuition. Some consider it a nasty word and rightfully so. It’s expensive and can hang over a student’s head throughout college and for years to come. But there are ways to save on tuition – you just need to become savvy about it. It takes time and effort, but when you’re talking about that much money, it’s more than likely ...

Crowdfunding, the latest trend in the startup craze, allows the public to view and donate to causes and projects via a public platform. Students have jumped on the bandwagon, utilizing crowdfunding resources to fund the often astronomical student loans that have accumulated. Here are some resources that students can utilize crowdfunding for debt payment, as well as manage a current financial ...

When you’re looking to pay for school, lining up funding can become confusing. You may win an award, already have some loans or aren't sure which loans are the best choice.That's okay - quite frankly, it is confusing. Which is why Fastweb is here to help you! For starters, make sure you evaluate all of your options before you borrow. Also, ...

As the year draws to a close, there are several steps families can take to get more need-based and merit-based financial aid. Prepay Next Year's Tuition Taxpayers can claim one of two education tax credits based on amounts paid for qualified higher education expenses, such as tuition and fees. These are the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) and the Lifetime Learning ...

Saving money as a college student is critical. The more you save, the better off you'll be. And, while plenty of expenses arise, there are also plenty of overlooked opportunities for students to save. Don't allow yourself to overlook these opportunities! If there's ever a time to live frugally, college is it. You're currently in a very unique situation where frugality ...

My daughter is a freshman (in college) and lives more than 50% of the time with her mother who is the custodial parent. Her mom and I have been divorced for the last 10 years. I personally had an UGMA account set up for my daughter years ago. But two years ago I converted my daughter's $25,000 UGMA account to a ...

Why should one NOT use retirement funds to pay for a child's college costs? &mdash; Diane H. There are two main reasons why families shouldn't use retirement plan funds to pay for college. The first reason is the financial impact of taking a distribution from a retirement plan to pay for college. The financial impact includes both the tax liability and ...

There are a variety of national, state and local programs that encourage families to save for college by providing families with free money. There are two main types of such programs: 1. Birthday Present. Such programs provide contributions of $100 to $1,000 as seed money in the college savings plan when the parents open a new 529 college savings plan before ...